The Heroes of Kenebras;
Zuriel Riversong: Female Half Elf Druid
Grunyier Cragsward: Male Dwarven Barbarian
Deldric: Elf Rogue
Fidgit Tannenbaum: Male Gnome Fey Blood Sorcerer
Sir Oliver: Human Inquisitor
Fidget invisibly moves ahead to the camp while Zuriel, Sir Oliver, Deldric and Jorhan carry the unconscious Grunyar and human woman prisoner. Arriving at the camp Fidget warns the paladin ahead of time of the incoming prisoners and Grunyars predicament. Fidget seeks out Sosiel the cleric and discovers that he has a single spell available that might be able to remove the dwarfs condition. Fidget informs him to attempt it and should it fail prepare as many as possible for the next day. Seeing Aravashneil Fidget asks if the elf could also assist, but the elf does not have that capability. Fidget inquires about his tasks and if any of the promised aid has materialized, but Aravashneil laments that while he has finally found a stash of supplies it would require assistance of many paladins for protection and heavy labor. Exasperated at not having had Aravashneils assistance during the forays into Citadel Dresen and not having gained any of the promised bounty from his expeditions Fidget and Aravashneil bicker at each other for a few minutes until each throw their hands up. Fidget then loudly proclaims that he is heading for his command tent to sleep. Then turns invisible and sneaks off to the mercenary camp. Once at the camp Fidget finds an empty bunk and asks the nearby men to keep a closer eye out for the night while he sleeps there and bring him a large amount of liquid in the morning and he will reward them by making the liquid mead. Deldric ties Grunyar and the barbarian to stakes in a tent and after convincing a passing paladin to guard them for 4 hours while Deldric trances spends the rest of the time wathcing the pair. Nurah passes by at one point and the two talk before Nurah retires to her bed. Sir Oliver takes Jorhan to a nearby tent and provides both security and guards the dwarf. 10 or so paladins are posted by Irabeth, coincidentally around that same tent.
Fidget awakes healthy and hale to a bevy of barrels filled to the brim with water, chuckling the gnome makes 299 pints worth of mead, takes 6 pints with him and warns the mercenary band to make sure everyone gets a pint before they start taking seconds. Back at the paladins camp Sir Oliver arrives first to Grunyars struggling form and using his limited divine magics expels the demonic influence from the dwarf. After the paladins have confirmed he is free from the Domination Sir Oliver releases him. In a few minutes, seeing Fidget arriving from the mercenary camp decides to charge towards him with his axe raised threateningly. Fidgets eyes go wide and he rapidly suggests that Grunyar run to Kenebras. The dwarfs mind isn't able to compete and his direction suddenly changes as Grunyar starts heading out of the camp at full sprint towards Kenebras. Fidget asks what Grunyar was doing loose if he was still intent on murdering him and Sir Oliver assures Fidget that Grunyar was cleansed. Zuriel offers that perhaps Grunyar was trying to be funny, and wonders if anyone should collect the running dwarf. Fidget strongly urges it as otherwise Grunyar will find himself 8 hours away from any help, exhausted from the physical exertion he would be all alone for at least 2 days in order to rest and return to camp, and 2 days in the World Wound alone are a dangerous predicament even for a hardy fighter like Grunyar. Thankfully Sir Oliver possesses a speed that exceeds Grunyar and he catches the dwarf not far from the camp and uses more of his sparse magics to remove Fidgets suggestion. Grunyar is nonplussed about his joke costing 2 of his party some of their spells before they have even started the day nor is he concerned of the danger he was almost in.
Taking Sosiel with them to keep the party healthy since Zuriel greatly resents healing, the group heads towards Citadel Dresen and just before they enter the building Deldric spies someone shadowing behind, giving the rest a warning to wait for him. Cloaking himself in his limited arcane invisibility Deldric sneaks back and happens upon Nurah moving to follow. Deldric drops his stealth surprising the halfling. When asked what she was doing Nurah explains that Irabeth had ordered her to accompany them to help them. Deldric is suspicious and brings her to the group where Sir Oliver uses his divine graces to determine that Nurah is lying about Irabeth sending her. Nurah relents and says that she took it upon herself to see that the team succeeded. Dubious of her motives, Deldric suggests she be sent back to which the majority agree. The group finds the first floor abandoned and proceeds beneath the citadel. The stairs descend into a prison cell block where the group soon finds the dead are restless. 2 ghosts attack Grunyar and Deldric sapping significant portions of their life force. Fidget recognizes that it would be better served using some of his mythic powers to end this threat quickly and summoning almost half of his mythic potential for the day the gnome blasts the 2 unquiet spirits into oblivion. Grunyar and Deldric search through the prison and discover 1 cell that holds an antimagic field and a second that appears to have its magics disrupted.
Before progressing further Zuriel spies a well concealed outline of a hidden door. Deldric opens the door slightly to see what lies beyond but as he pulls the door back he is met by the visage of the Dwarven Antipaladin from before. The Dwarf kicks the door in, Deldric nimbly leaping back as the fight is joined. The antipaladin focuses his attacks against Sir Oliver who weathers the assault bravely but finds himself leaning heavily on the wall by the time the Dwarf is brought low. Fidget asks that the Dwarf be taken alive if possible, which Grunyar ignores and chops his head off.
Reaching the end of the prison cells Deldric and Gruyar spot several well preserved corpses sitting up in cells. Deldric is suspicious so throws a rock as hard as his lean elf arms can striking one of them in the head which causes the bodies eyes to snap open and all 4 corpses leap up baring fangs. Grunyar and Deldric together makes short work of the vampires who explode into clouds of mist and start gently floating away. Deldric in a flash of insight opens the bag of holding and running around like he is catching butterflies the elf gathers all the mist forms of the vampires into the extra dimensional space. Heading south the group finds a group of babau demons repairing torture instruments. Again the duo of Grunyar and Deldric put the demons to shame and send them screaming back to the Abyss. No sooner do the elf and dwarf wipe their blades though then a pallid half orc appears from thin air and sinks his fangs into Grunyar. The vampire is put down before he becomes too much of a nusance and when his mist flows through one of the doors the team follows it, finds his coffin and puts his mist form into the bag of holding too.
Deldric uses the remedies they have on hand to alleviate his lost life force but both Zuriel and Sosiel are unable to help Grunyar who demands that he will not proceed any further until his injuries are tended to. The group end up returning to the camp and spending the evening preparing their next assault. Come morning the team takes Sosiel and return below, having cleared out their route the going is easy. Fidget ensures he is able to see both the invisible and ethereal in case Murance makes a return. Following the secret passage behind where the antipaladin was found the group comes to a large furnace type room inhabited by several snake men type creatures. The room is so hot that the skin on Deldrics arms begin to cook when he enters it. Zuriel is convinced to grant the team some protection from the flames then asks whether anyone had given any thought to recruiting the snake men. Fidget shrugs, turns invisible, and proceeds below where he engages the snake men in negotiation. Since the snake men are unable to locate Fidget they do not outright attack him. However their intent is clear and the team rapidly put them to the sword. Several doors are found in the wings of the furnace room and a set of large double doors right down the middle. The team stacks up near the double doors, Fidget and Deldric move into the room and Deldric spies Nurah tied up and gagged to the right. While further into the room a magic circle is in use by a female tiefling and several demons. Deldric moves up towards Nurah while Fidget moves south towards the magic ritual. Grunyar bursts into the room and gives his best yell, which succeeds in grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. The fight begins in earnest, Deldric realizes at the last moment that "Nurah" isn't really tied up and shouts out a warning that this Nurah is a trap. Grunyar is set upon by most of the demons, Fidget gives Deldric Greater Invisibility, which sends the elf into a murder spree. Grunyar falls under the combined assault of the demons and the tiefling's magics. The caster throws a wall of force up to keep the invisible elf from eviscerating her and begins stacking arcane boons onto herself. Zuriel arrives on site and begrudgingly administrates some healing onto Gruynar. The dwarf stands back up only to take the full force of a lighting bolt dropping him again. Zuriel is wounded and flees back towards Sir Oliver, Sosiel and her cat where she is met by another Nurah. Zuriel commands her cat to attack this Nurah and it takes the halfling a few moments and suffer a few bites to convince Zuriel to call off her assault.
Deldric duels with the fake Nurah, now revealed to be the Murance pretender and though she uses her abilities to turn invisible or ethereal or fly, Fidget is there to counter her. Soon Murance vanishes even from Fidgets sight leaving only a few Demons who can see Fidget and the tiefling caster. Deldric finishes off the demons before they can take out the gnome and then tanks all the casters remaining spells until she is down to cantrips, and all her previous buffs had either run out or been consumed. Deldric finishes her off then Sosiel is brought in to heal the team. Fidget announces that he is completely spent of magic and should they wish to continue it would be without him. The group agrees to grab everything of worth and head up top. Fidget asks Deldric to move ahead and search Nurahs quarters for anything suspicious as her repeated attempts to accompany them is not in line with her personality. Deldric finds nothing out of sorts, Fidget commands that the Paladin and Mercenary armies are to occupy the Citadel and that he is sick and tired of all these forays. Come dawn he intends to finish this liberation.
At dawn Deldric speaks with Sosiel and authorizes him and Aaron to have the day off as thanks for going above the call of duty the last 2 days. When Deldric tells Fidget that their primary healer will be unavailable. Fidget seeks out Nurah and offers her one chance to accompany them now. She may join them and is solely responsible for Grunyars well being. Nurah argues against the restriction but when Fidget declares that if she refuses and they see her he will assume that she is either mind controlled or a fake and they will attack her en mass. With that Nurah agrees. Grunyar who has been complaining incessantly to Zuriel whenever he is the slightest injured, despite the half elf making her opinions on healing very clear is told that he now has his own personal medic and he is to leave Zuriel alone if he wants healing.
The group moves through the basement, past the ritual room from the day before. Deldric, Grunyar and Fidget are caught in an illusionary trap. Grunyar and Fidget are able to see past it but Deldric suddenly falls to the ground. Thankfully Zuriel is able to bring Deldric back to consciousness and heal him to fighting form. Ahead the group comes to a circular room which Sir Oliver discovers has an illusionary floor in the center. Avoiding the hole the group moves to the next door and are assaulted by several shadow demons. Grunyar is mind controlled and commanded to kill the gnome but before he can act Sir Oliver uses his divine connection with Andoletta to remove the abyssal control. Fidget calls on his mythic powers to protect himself, Grunyar, and Sir Oliver from any further manipulations. Deldric is suddenly blasted past the group and would have landed into the pit had his quick reflexes not caught the statue of a demon. Grunyar advances into the darkened room and starts hacking into the shadow demons. Zuriel moves into the room and using one of the wands acquired from their time in Kenebras casts a magical light into the room to counter the magical darkness.
Sir Oliver, Zuriel, and Grunyar are at different points launched into the pit to discover that a green slime covers the bottom of the pit. Sir Oliver and Grunyar are able to remove the slime, Zuriel however allows the slime to remain on herself long enough that it begins to seep into her skin. The last of the normal shadow demons are sundered but a significantly more powerful shadow demon starts tearing large chunks of flesh from the heroes. Fidget gives Deldric greater invisibility and then moves further into the room, spying the Sword of Valor, the banner they had came all this way for. Fidget moves through the room and gathers up the banner. Inspecting the artifact the gnome understands that it will require someone with a divine connection to reactivate the banner. Fidget rushes back towards the entrance where the others are engaged in a gruesome fight against the demon. Fidget rushes to the wall closest to Sir Oliver and uses some mythic power to stone sculpt a holding for the banner and mounts the banner on the wall. Sir Oliver disengages with the demon, and touching the banner feels a sudden pulse of divine energy as the Sword of Valor is reactivated. The ambient light increases, the shadow demon seems to recede as the artifact awakens. Now on the defensive the final demon in Drezen backs into a corner and fights defensively, while Fidget sees Nurah finally enter the room invisibly. She weaves through the combatants and grabs the banner off the wall. The shadows grow once again and the demon moves back on the offensive. Fidget pushes the last of his mythic power to suggest she return the banner and begin healing the team.
Nurah, now compelled to assist returns the banner, but that brief respite was enough for the demon to turn the tide. Grunyar, Sir Oliver and Deldric each fall to the attacks of the demon. While Nurah is able to move about invisibly and heal still the demon is easily able to swipe at any would be hero. Fidget is unable to exert mental control over the creature so settles for searching his downed companions for any healing potions to feed to them. Zuriel pulls her bow and using the magical arrows obtained from the Gray Garrison and here at Citadel Drezen begins firing deadly arrows at the demon. Her aim is true but this demon is fast. Several arrows fly wide as the demon advances on her taking large chunks out of her arm. Finally with a sense of clarity the half elf strikes true, the arrow sinks into the shadow demon, it continues to advance, shadows spilling out from its wounds onto the floor, until the creature is unable to maintain its form anymore and dissipates. Before she can make a run for it Fidget suggests that Nurah wait for 10 hours in the anti magic holding cell, he, Sir Oliver and Deldric follow her there to ensure the suggestion has taken. Zuriel heals Grunyar and the 2 take the banner back up to the Crusaders.
Thoughts:
I feel like we were doing far more sorties than were necessary, some of that is probably due to not having a real healer. Our Druid has made it abundantly clear that she does not want to use her spell slots to heal others. This wouldn't be a problem if we were around a town and could purchase some better wands than just Cure Light Wounds. I was hoping to combat that with Sosiel and Nurah, but with another PC taking Sosiel out and Nurah turning on us it became a moot point. Now that we have taken the city back I am hoping that we can get some wands of Cure Critical Wounds. 4D8+7 vs 1D8+1 makes for an average of 25 healed per charge instead of 5.
I was hoping the GM was more descriptive in some of his narration. The difference between;
"You feel your mental attack breach his defenses but you are unable to find purchase for some reason."
as opposed to
"Roll for your spell" 28 vs SR, will vs DC 26 roll twice and take the lowest "Ok, nothing happens"
Can clearly convey to the player that something is in place preventing that spell, whether that is a protection spell, immunity, or a magical effect of the area doesn't need to be given. The Druid kept casting lighting based spells despite the GM narrating that the lighting didn't seem to have an effect on it. Apparently the last demon was on 3 HP for quite a while but no one could land a strong enough hit. All in all, it was a great final fight, almost went south for us but the group pulled our chestnuts from the fire.
